Kazamuki: Direction of the Wind
by Spaz-kun
Summary: After the death of Minato and Kushina, Kisame is left to raise their son in the ranks of the Uchiha Shinobi Guard as an apprentice. The man touched by demons must teach the boy to control his own. Very AU, Strong!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

There's a forest called *Hell where only demons and those touched by them can survive. The Uchiha are once such clan, their founding father Madara having made a pact with *Amaterasu, the Sun god centuries ago. In exchange for yearly homage, Madara and his descendants received two mountains and their valley without fear of being devoured by *Hell Dwellers (i.e. Devils, Demons). After so many years of neglect, most Uchihas are born with very weak strains of the Sharingan. Only the purest of Nobles have Sharingan reminiscent of Madara's days, thus not enough to defend their clan against hostile Oni who no longer honor the Uchiha's claim on their territory. The Uchiha instead have an impenetrable guard of 200+ shinobi and *nukenin from all over the continent who keep the demons at bay. This is their story.

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

It was a strange thing, he decided, to hold a dead woman's child.

Kisame glowered at the bundle in his arms silently as it wriggled and reached out for the not-there touch of its mother. Kushina laid dead on the table of his cottage, where Tsume slowly brushed her hair and tried to cover the uneven patches where the deceased woman had rent at it in anguish. A white, flower printed Kimono hid the more drastic wounds Kushina had suffered, but she looked flawless and angelic now. At peace.

Minato was dead as well, but his meat and bones churned somewhere in the black pit of Kitsune Kyuubi's stomach, who was in turn sealed into Naruto's. The thought made Kisame's lip twitch with disgust.

"He will be as a son to me, friend," Tsume murmured, dashing away a few uncharacteristic tears and busying herself with the elegant bouquet of lilies arranged to be placed in Kushina's casket.

"Tsume," Kisame said, voice brusque. She glanced at him briefly. Kisame met her gaze, then stared down at the boy in his arms as he remembered Kushina's last words, how difficult it had been to hear them, the halting rasp of her voice competing with Naruto's frightened squalls, the cry of demons in the night, his own thunderous heartbeat...

'Be the father Minato won't. Make Naruto strong and teach him to love.'

She'd expired then, the vice-like grip on the front of his yukata loosening. Her pale hand rested limply against his chest for a moment more before he'd torn his gaze away and hauled her body over his shoulder.

It had been an absurd request, Kisame realized later on as he clutched both Kushina and Naruto to his bloody chest and hauled himself to the Village. Who was he, a weredemon, to be teaching anyone about love, let alone a child? But he'd make Naruto strong. If anything, he could at least fulfill that part of the promise.

It was true. He'd killed Kushina. Or the shell that Minato's death had left of her. A sort of concord had been reached between the feudal family and the demons who'd love to wreak havoc upon the small village clustered like tattered skirts around the massive pagoda home to the Uchiha Clan and the family that headed them. Once a year, villagers would pay a sort of sacrificial homage to Jiigoku Forest's demons, and another to appease the spirits of humans past that'd been drawn to the forest's afterlife appeal. Tonight, Kitsune Kyuubi had come for his fee, setting his sights on Namikaze Minato's infant son, the boy with a legacy for a father, a warrior for a mother. It was the first human sacrifice to occur in decades. But fate had taken the father, not the son, and lost in her desperation, the mother had followed death blindly till she found it.

Kisame breathed heavily and clenched his jaw.

"I will take him in. As a son. Kushina-san asked me to."

A pause, and he ran a rough thumb over the streaks on either side of the child's face.

Shallow breaths and blood sputtered from the fierce woman's lips as Kisame's trembling hands did as she instructed. The seal was etched onto Naruto's belly just as Kitsune healed the gash Samehada had shoveled seconds before along its throat. It made a desperate sprint for the child…

A moment later, Kitsune ruthlessly writhed inside of a shrieking Naruto's stomach, intending to break the boy's newly formed containment seal and his body in the process. Kisame could only smother the boy to his chest and endure the infant hands clawing at him with inhuman strength as Kushina's will made battle with the demon's.

The boy ceased his snarling. Red eyes dissipated into blue clarity once more before falling closed as Naruto slept.

She'd been victorious, then. The small village saved, the Uchiha Family protected yet again by its ruthless Shinobi guardians.

Tsume threaded clawed fingers through the red strands of Kushina's hair, eyes dim. "She just about made Minato's death pointless. She was going to sacrifice the child in exchange for Minato's spirit…and it doesn't work that way with Jiigoku Forest. Kitsune would have killed her himself. Dishonored her. You know that, don't you?" she asked with a poignant severity in her voice Kisame couldn't quite place, as if trying to convince herself more than anything that his act was justifiable.

He mutely nodded, eyes locked on the wandering blue ones of Minato's child. He felt all the monster he looked, and the little boy in his arms could not have cared less. Small, plump fingers thumped amusedly at Kisame's chin. No one would suspect that an age-old demon from the bloody era of human massacres and sacrifices resided restlessly in the boy's stomach, now a spirit chamber created with Kushina's chakra.

"Hana," Tsume urged.

The tear-stained child by the fire-place lifted her head from under Kuromaru's and huddled a sleeping Kiba closer to the wolf. She crawled out and bowed respectfully to Kisame, before standing at her mother's knee.

"Yes mama?" She whispered, and Tusme gestured towards the wriggling Naruto in Kisame's arms. The man nodded slightly and held him out for Hana to take.

"Go with Kuromaru to the Clan House and have Fuugaku-sama give you and the boys safe-haven. There will be danger in the morning and as the Head family's guardians, we need to secure the peace."

Tsume kissed the little girl's brow and patted Kuromaru's head fondly before bundling the infants into one of Kisame's massive yukatas. Hana climbed onto the wolf's back, fisting a hand into his fur as the babes were nestled at her knee.

"Tsume," Kuromaru inquired, "Do I tell Lord Fuugaku of Minato and Kushina's fate?"

Tsume glanced pensively at Kisame, then slowly nodded.

"Tell him that Hana will replace Kushina within the year, and my sons…My sons will train for ten. Then they will become guardians in Minato's stead."

A moment of silence-unspoken words-passed from Tsume's eyes to the nin-dog's. Kuromaru's tail swished in parting and he sprinted into the darkness, the coal gray of his fur melding with the night around him and his charges.

"You will raise him, Tsume?" Kisame asked, eyes not leaving the swirling mass of Kushina's red hair as it tumbled over the edge of the table. Tsume nodded grimly and used his shoulder for leverage, standing with all the dignity her broken heart could muster.

"Kiba and Hana will be his den-mates while he is yet a cub. Once weaned, Kisame, he'll be apprenticed to you. The smell of that old fox is so strong on his skin, no dog will ever want to bond with him."

And that was the end of it. The pain in Tsume's face as she spoke betrayed her careless tone. She'd lost her husband to a swarm of Hell dwellers months ago while Kiba was still in the womb. Kisame had never seen a tracker as skilled as her husband had been; it was a terrible blow to the guard to have lost him. And now, their Captain and his wife, both incredibly strong pillars of their forces, were dead as well.

Hana was young and guileless enough to weep openly for them. Others, like Kisame himself, swallowed the loss like bitter medicine and waited for vengeance. But perhaps the battle had not been solely a pyrrhic victory. Naruto was proof of at least this.

After a moment more, he stood and grasped Samehada from its place against the wall.

"I'm off to alert the Guard. We need to regroup and rally by tonight, if possible. And a new Captain has to be elected immediately." Kisame paused and locked eyes with her. "My vote is yours."

"What?"

"You were Minato's right hand, you knew him best. And-"

"You knew him better than I, Kisame," Tsume said softly. Kisame opened his mouth, and closed it again, at a loss. The woman before him rose a brow, eyes disdainful and challenging him to argue.

"You're the strongest of us now. Minato would have demanded you take his place."

"Minato was naïve enough to believe the Guard would want me to."

"Kisame, you don't have anything to prove-"

"I don't want the position. It takes more than strength to run this guard, a fire I don't have. And no one wants a leader who looks like the very beasts they're trying to kill, Tsume." Kisame stared down at her with unblinking eyes, feeling the fire's heat scald the sensitive skin of his gills, mind always conscious of the strange link Samehada's essence forged with his mind.

"I am all the demon I despise, and I have no one to blame but myself," he finished curtly.

He could see the muscles beneath the taut skin of her jaw working furiously.

"I'll be back before sun-up, Taicho."

He left, disappearing just beyond the threshold of the cabin. Tsume gazed after the man, then at the body upon the table, and wondered how morbid it would be if Kushina held Naruto one last time before closing the casket for the men to bear away.

It was strange, but she loved Kushina's child already. And judging from the foreign attentiveness in Kisame's eyes, a look she'd never seen in them before, the man was growing fond of the boy as well.

iii

"Dead?"

"Yes, Fuugaku-dono. By the paw of Kitsune Kyuubi."

The Uchiha feudal lord stared at the child standing behind Tsume's nin-dog as she scratched the back of her calf with a filthy foot, balancing two infants in either arm and chewing on a loose strand of brown hair. And she smelled, possibly worse than the beast seated staunchly on the expensive tatami mats furnishing Fuugaku's room. They were to be washed afterwards…

"We'll need replacements," The man dryly noted, holding up ten fingers and slowly folding them, each digit representing a fallen warrior that ranked S+ in the Feudal Family's guard. Three fingers remained extended, and Tsume's eldest choked on a lump in her throat. Kuromaru nodded, a strange gesture for an animal to use.

"Hana-sama will be ready within the year to join our elite ranks. The newborns-"

Fuugaku held up a hand and stopped the nin-dog mid sentence, motioning for Hana to show him the infants closely. She obliged, and sure enough, the shocks of brown and yellow hair were enough for him to know.

"And what happened to the Kyuubi? Has he been eliminated?" Fuugaku abruptly questioned, and before Hana could open her mouth to speak, Kuromaru had already answered.

"That demon is no longer a problem. He's been…exorcised into another dimension. Kushina-sama's gift to the feudal family before her passing."

And Hana shut her mouth, because Kuromaru had just told a half-truth.

Fuugaku remained silent, uneasy because of the ambiguous answer. Kuromaru's orbish, blue eyes stared unwaveringly into his own, and Fuugaku let the subject drop. Ambiguities had never stopped the family guard from protecting the compound before anyways.

"Minato's son will be apprenticed to Kisame and the Inuzuka infant will take after the clan's techniques," Kuromaru stated, rising heavily off his haunches and swinging around to nudge Hana's hip with a leathery muzzle. "Give them ten years under our tutelage and they'll be ready, Fuugaku-dono."

The lord glared disdainfully at the completely soiled tatami mat the wolf had sat upon and uttered, "We don't have ten years. The demons have been restless and are on the move because of this loss. We need replacements. Now."

"We have already begun to scout for potential pupils within the village, and if few are readily found, Kisame will venture to the Neighboring House stations and request Shinobi from their ranks."

Fuugaku flinched at the news, his face contorted by emotions ranging from horrified to amused at the prospect.

"Venture? And alone, I'd imagine. Does he wish to die? No one goes in or out of our compound without a squad and survives Hell's Forest!" he snapped, infuriated by the guardian's audacity. Kisame would be devoured within a day by the lowly demons that hunted in packs beyond the Forest's limiters. And if not, with all its traps and illusions, Hell's Forest would surely drive the man insane.

"He will not fail. Or do you forget from where Kisame came?" Kuromaru questioned casually, shaking his black mane as if dispelling the proverbial cloud the Neighboring Houses had caused the feudal lord Fuugaku. The Houses were situated in different regions of Jiigoku Forest and manufactured more than trained Shinobi for battle. Mindless killing machines that had no fear of the Devil or Hell, they had provided the continent with fighters and war mongers for centuries. Fuugaku's own father once had a House Shinobi in his guard for a few years before the man went insane and fled into Jiigoku to be eaten alive. And though Kisame turned out to be sound enough in the head, the guard's demonic appearance was outlandish enough to make the villagers cringe in terror. Normal training did not…distort people like that. And Fuugaku's stomach turned at the thought of training that did.

"Nevertheless, caution must be exercised," Fuugaku insisted.

The nin-dog gestured for Hana to slide open the paper door and sauntered into the wooden hall, tail curled about his charge's wrist as she followed him silently. As if in afterthought, he called back, "And tell Mikoto Tsume sends her congratulations for the delivery. Health and strength to Itachi and little Sasuke-kun."

Fuugaku's chin rested on his chest as he called a servant in to clean the mess left by the two of Tsume's tutelage.

"Washed, Fuugaku-sama?" the servant asked, head ducked low reverently in the Uchiha lord's presence.

"Burn them. They smell of death."

iii

"Hana-sama! What brings you and the little ones here to the palace?"

Kuromaru's throat guttered with a warning snarl, and the serving-woman cringed, terrified.

"You are nothing but a lowly worker. Do not ask such blatant questions," he ordered. Hana flinched at the wolf's biting tone but felt safe, nonetheless, beside him. Kuromaru's heavy pelt smelled like wood and dirt and it felt as thick as wool, all comforting things to the child, hip pressed to his side as she cradled the small children against her chest. The servant led them to their quarters silently the rest of the way, much to Kuromaru's satisfaction.

"You may use all the commodities you desire," the woman simpered before hastily bowing and taking her leave. Hana entered the long-room behind Kuromaru, who huffed a musty breath on her brow.

"Stay here and be respectful to the nobles; only they have rights to your allegiance. If anyone gets as nosy as that yellow-bitch servant, you tell them to mind their own business."

"Yes, Ku-chan."

The wolf winced at the nickname and wrinkled his muzzle.

"And if you please, Hana, I am Kuromaru when in the palace."

She nodded, brown locks of soiled hair falling over her bright eyes before Kuromaru snorted them away.

"Clean yourself up and keep the children presentable here. Once the danger is gone, I'll take you and the Sankyodai for a romp in the lake where you can all get as dirty as you like."

Hana meandered towards the bed roll and accommodated her siblings, groaning at the thought of daily bathing. She also missed her lupine denmates, three of the puppies from a prized litter Kuromaru had sired himself. It had been over a month since she'd trained with them because of her father's funeral and the mourning ritual that followed for seven weeks after his death. Kuromaru gave the room a once over before saying his goodbyes to the children.

"Goodbye, Ku-chan," Hana whispered as he disappeared down the dark hall before taking his leave to the outside corridor of the palace.

iii

It was raining in Hell today.

His eyes scanned the Village's smoky horizon, a lengthy stretch of trees and housing mottled ambiguously into gray that seemed to waver in the downpour. It was a quiet, languid morning. Only the rain was in motion, everything else seemingly suspended in time and not willing to disturb the calm.

It didn't really look like the aftermath of a massacre.

Leaning heavily against the palace's lookout tower, Kisame glanced at the gaunt-faced Uchiha that stared just as vacantly at the sleeping town.

"Their sacrifice saved us all."

Fuugaku swallowed thickly and nodded a few times as he gripped at the tower's surrounding iron rung. Deep-set lines creased the man's face like old leather as if he'd aged a few years overnight.

"And the boy?"

"It was Kushina's wish that he be brought up in the Guard."

A pause. Fuugaku relinquished his grip on the railing and rubbed at his eyes. "Mikoto was entertaining fantasies of raising him herself in gratitude for their service. He and Sasuke are only two or three months apart, after all." He shrugged evasively. "She'll be disillusioned, but it can't be helped."

Kisame said nothing to this, knowing full well that Fuugaku would never have allowed such an arrangement, let alone taking in a demon host as a surrogate son. But it was part of a lord's business to appear gracious on occasion.

"The burial will have to wait, along with the ceremony for Tsume's ascension to Captaincy. The oni are restless and might launch an attack if we don't attempt a show of force immediately. I…could not salvage Minato's body."

Fuugaku gave a low whistle and nodded once before turning a questioning gaze on the monster man half hidden by the Tower's long shadow. "I would've thought you'd be the one to take Minato's place. You are, after all, the strongest now. And you know the enemy better than any of them can hope to. I'd say you have a right to the placement as head of the Guard, Kisame-san."

"You stick to your clan's affairs and Tsume will tend to the Guard's," Kisame murmured in soft warning. Eyes uncharacteristically alight with feral disdain, he stared unflinching into Fuugaku's scarlet gaze and continued, just as quietly. "I don't want the position."

The Uchiha glanced away, red eyes whirring into black once more. Kisame was never one to snarl or snap his jaws, no matter what his appearance, but it was impossible to meet his gaze levelly for too long. Two years wandering in Jiigoku's forest and living among the demons had tinged the man's expression with murder.

"You're right about that, at least. I won't insist further on the matter. Though, I would that you keep news of the boy's…'affliction' to yourself. The villagers won't see him as a hero-they'll persecute him. After Minato and Kushina's death, they'll be looking for anyone to blame."

Fuugaku hesitated. "The sealing does not seem to have altered him."

Kisame shook his head. "Scars is all. Asides that, it's obvious he is his father's son. As for the Kitsune, the seal Kushina had me use was a curious choice. Shiki Fuujin, a technique of Minato's own design. I'd only ever heard of the concept. It allows an osmosis of sorts between the demon's chakra and the child's. For now, it's stable enough to hold for years. But if he develops enough chakra as he grows…We can only speculate as to how the Fox will manifest himself."

Kisame rolled his shoulders, shifting Samehada's massive weight against his back. The carved hilt adjusted its scales with a hiss and Fuugaku shifted his weight away from the thing.

"I trust the children will be safe here."

The lord nodded once, curtly.

"They're to be respected as members of the clan, I assure you."

"Good. And have Itachi keep a sharp eye on Hana. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to join the chase."

With that, the tall shinobi disappeared over the railing, leaving Fuugaku to grimly reflect on the vengeful bloodbath about to end the morning's semblance of peace.

The Shinobi Guard were going head-hunting.

* * *

><p>Very strong AU.<p>

The protagonists will be Kisame and Naruto, with Inuzuka Kiba, Inuzuka Hana, Uchiha Itachi, Inuzuka Tsume, and Momochi Zabuza as close seconds. Expect many other appearances, as this story will have no OCs. This will span characters across the series and can probably be a few chapters long.

Reviews are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

There's a forest called *Hell where only demons and those touched by them can survive. The Uchiha are once such clan, their founding father Madara having made a pact with *Amaterasu, the Sun god centuries ago. In exchange for yearly homage, Madara and his descendants received two mountains and their valley without fear of being devoured by *Hell Dwellers (i.e. Devils, Demons). After so many years of neglect, most Uchihas are born with very weak strains of the Sharingan. Only the purest of Nobles have Sharingan reminiscent of Madara's days, thus not enough to defend their clan against hostile Oni who no longer honor the Uchiha's claim on their territory. The Uchiha instead have an impenetrable guard of 200+ shinobi and *nukenin from all over the continent who keep the demons at bay. This is their story.

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

It was a strange thing, he decided, to hold a dead woman's child.

Kisame glowered at the bundle in his arms silently as it wriggled and reached out for the not-there touch of its mother. Kushina laid dead on the table of his cottage, where Tsume slowly brushed her hair and tried to cover the uneven patches where the deceased woman had rent at it in anguish. A white, flower printed Kimono hid the more drastic wounds Kushina had suffered, but she looked flawless and angelic now. At peace.

Minato was dead as well, but his meat and bones churned somewhere in the black pit of Kitsune Kyuubi's stomach, who was in turn sealed into Naruto's. The thought made Kisame's lip twitch with disgust.

"He will be as a son to me, friend," Tsume murmured, dashing away a few uncharacteristic tears and busying herself with the elegant bouquet of lilies arranged to be placed in Kushina's casket.

"Tsume," Kisame said, voice brusque. She glanced at him briefly. Kisame met her gaze, then stared down at the boy in his arms as he remembered Kushina's last words, how difficult it had been to hear them, the halting rasp of her voice competing with Naruto's frightened squalls, the cry of demons in the night, his own thunderous heartbeat...

'Be the father Minato won't. Make Naruto strong and teach him to love.'

She'd expired then, the vice-like grip on the front of his yukata loosening. Her pale hand rested limply against his chest for a moment more before he'd torn his gaze away and hauled her body over his shoulder.

It had been an absurd request, Kisame realized later on as he clutched both Kushina and Naruto to his bloody chest and hauled himself to the Village. Who was he, a weredemon, to be teaching anyone about love, let alone a child? But he'd make Naruto strong. If anything, he could at least fulfill that part of the promise.

It was true. He'd killed Kushina. Or the shell that Minato's death had left of her. A sort of concord had been reached between the feudal family and the demons who'd love to wreak havoc upon the small village clustered like tattered skirts around the massive pagoda home to the Uchiha Clan and the family that headed them. Once a year, villagers would pay a sort of sacrificial homage to Jiigoku Forest's demons, and another to appease the spirits of humans past that'd been drawn to the forest's afterlife appeal. Tonight, Kitsune Kyuubi had come for his fee, setting his sights on Namikaze Minato's infant son, the boy with a legacy for a father, a warrior for a mother. It was the first human sacrifice to occur in decades. But fate had taken the father, not the son, and lost in her desperation, the mother had followed death blindly till she found it.

Kisame breathed heavily and clenched his jaw.

"I will take him in. As a son. Kushina-san asked me to."

A pause, and he ran a rough thumb over the streaks on either side of the child's face.

Shallow breaths and blood sputtered from the fierce woman's lips as Kisame's trembling hands did as she instructed. The seal was etched onto Naruto's belly just as Kitsune healed the gash Samehada had shoveled seconds before along its throat. It made a desperate sprint for the child…

A moment later, Kitsune ruthlessly writhed inside of a shrieking Naruto's stomach, intending to break the boy's newly formed containment seal and his body in the process. Kisame could only smother the boy to his chest and endure the infant hands clawing at him with inhuman strength as Kushina's will made battle with the demon's.

The boy ceased his snarling. Red eyes dissipated into blue clarity once more before falling closed as Naruto slept.

She'd been victorious, then. The small village saved, the Uchiha Family protected yet again by its ruthless Shinobi guardians.

Tsume threaded clawed fingers through the red strands of Kushina's hair, eyes dim. "She just about made Minato's death pointless. She was going to sacrifice the child in exchange for Minato's spirit…and it doesn't work that way with Jiigoku Forest. Kitsune would have killed her himself. Dishonored her. You know that, don't you?" she asked with a poignant severity in her voice Kisame couldn't quite place, as if trying to convince herself more than anything that his act was justifiable.

He mutely nodded, eyes locked on the wandering blue ones of Minato's child. He felt all the monster he looked, and the little boy in his arms could not have cared less. Small, plump fingers thumped amusedly at Kisame's chin. No one would suspect that an age-old demon from the bloody era of human massacres and sacrifices resided restlessly in the boy's stomach, now a spirit chamber created with Kushina's chakra.

"Hana," Tsume urged.

The tear-stained child by the fire-place lifted her head from under Kuromaru's and huddled a sleeping Kiba closer to the wolf. She crawled out and bowed respectfully to Kisame, before standing at her mother's knee.

"Yes mama?" She whispered, and Tusme gestured towards the wriggling Naruto in Kisame's arms. The man nodded slightly and held him out for Hana to take.

"Go with Kuromaru to the Clan House and have Fuugaku-sama give you and the boys safe-haven. There will be danger in the morning and as the Head family's guardians, we need to secure the peace."

Tsume kissed the little girl's brow and patted Kuromaru's head fondly before bundling the infants into one of Kisame's massive yukatas. Hana climbed onto the wolf's back, fisting a hand into his fur as the babes were nestled at her knee.

"Tsume," Kuromaru inquired, "Do I tell Lord Fuugaku of Minato and Kushina's fate?"

Tsume glanced pensively at Kisame, then slowly nodded.

"Tell him that Hana will replace Kushina within the year, and my sons…My sons will train for ten. Then they will become guardians in Minato's stead."

A moment of silence-unspoken words-passed from Tsume's eyes to the nin-dog's. Kuromaru's tail swished in parting and he sprinted into the darkness, the coal gray of his fur melding with the night around him and his charges.

"You will raise him, Tsume?" Kisame asked, eyes not leaving the swirling mass of Kushina's red hair as it tumbled over the edge of the table. Tsume nodded grimly and used his shoulder for leverage, standing with all the dignity her broken heart could muster.

"Kiba and Hana will be his den-mates while he is yet a cub. Once weaned, Kisame, he'll be apprenticed to you. The smell of that old fox is so strong on his skin, no dog will ever want to bond with him."

And that was the end of it. The pain in Tsume's face as she spoke betrayed her careless tone. She'd lost her husband to a swarm of Hell dwellers months ago while Kiba was still in the womb. Kisame had never seen a tracker as skilled as her husband had been; it was a terrible blow to the guard to have lost him. And now, their Captain and his wife, both incredibly strong pillars of their forces, were dead as well.

Hana was young and guileless enough to weep openly for them. Others, like Kisame himself, swallowed the loss like bitter medicine and waited for vengeance. But perhaps the battle had not been solely a pyrrhic victory. Naruto was proof of at least this.

After a moment more, he stood and grasped Samehada from its place against the wall.

"I'm off to alert the Guard. We need to regroup and rally by tonight, if possible. And a new Captain has to be elected immediately." Kisame paused and locked eyes with her. "My vote is yours."

"What?"

"You were Minato's right hand, you knew him best. And-"

"You knew him better than I, Kisame," Tsume said softly. Kisame opened his mouth, and closed it again, at a loss. The woman before him rose a brow, eyes disdainful and challenging him to argue.

"You're the strongest of us now. Minato would have demanded you take his place."

"Minato was naïve enough to believe the Guard would want me to."

"Kisame, you don't have anything to prove-"

"I don't want the position. It takes more than strength to run this guard, a fire I don't have. And no one wants a leader who looks like the very beasts they're trying to kill, Tsume." Kisame stared down at her with unblinking eyes, feeling the fire's heat scald the sensitive skin of his gills, mind always conscious of the strange link Samehada's essence forged with his mind.

"I am all the demon I despise, and I have no one to blame but myself," he finished curtly.

He could see the muscles beneath the taut skin of her jaw working furiously.

"I'll be back before sun-up, Taicho."

He left, disappearing just beyond the threshold of the cabin. Tsume gazed after the man, then at the body upon the table, and wondered how morbid it would be if Kushina held Naruto one last time before closing the casket for the men to bear away.

It was strange, but she loved Kushina's child already. And judging from the foreign attentiveness in Kisame's eyes, a look she'd never seen in them before, the man was growing fond of the boy as well.

iii

"Dead?"

"Yes, Fuugaku-dono. By the paw of Kitsune Kyuubi."

The Uchiha feudal lord stared at the child standing behind Tsume's nin-dog as she scratched the back of her calf with a filthy foot, balancing two infants in either arm and chewing on a loose strand of brown hair. And she smelled, possibly worse than the beast seated staunchly on the expensive tatami mats furnishing Fuugaku's room. They were to be washed afterwards…

"We'll need replacements," The man dryly noted, holding up ten fingers and slowly folding them, each digit representing a fallen warrior that ranked S+ in the Feudal Family's guard. Three fingers remained extended, and Tsume's eldest choked on a lump in her throat. Kuromaru nodded, a strange gesture for an animal to use.

"Hana-sama will be ready within the year to join our elite ranks. The newborns-"

Fuugaku held up a hand and stopped the nin-dog mid sentence, motioning for Hana to show him the infants closely. She obliged, and sure enough, the shocks of brown and yellow hair were enough for him to know.

"And what happened to the Kyuubi? Has he been eliminated?" Fuugaku abruptly questioned, and before Hana could open her mouth to speak, Kuromaru had already answered.

"That demon is no longer a problem. He's been…exorcised into another dimension. Kushina-sama's gift to the feudal family before her passing."

And Hana shut her mouth, because Kuromaru had just told a half-truth.

Fuugaku remained silent, uneasy because of the ambiguous answer. Kuromaru's orbish, blue eyes stared unwaveringly into his own, and Fuugaku let the subject drop. Ambiguities had never stopped the family guard from protecting the compound before anyways.

"Minato's son will be apprenticed to Kisame and the Inuzuka infant will take after the clan's techniques," Kuromaru stated, rising heavily off his haunches and swinging around to nudge Hana's hip with a leathery muzzle. "Give them ten years under our tutelage and they'll be ready, Fuugaku-dono."

The lord glared disdainfully at the completely soiled tatami mat the wolf had sat upon and uttered, "We don't have ten years. The demons have been restless and are on the move because of this loss. We need replacements. Now."

"We have already begun to scout for potential pupils within the village, and if few are readily found, Kisame will venture to the Neighboring House stations and request Shinobi from their ranks."

Fuugaku flinched at the news, his face contorted by emotions ranging from horrified to amused at the prospect.

"Venture? And alone, I'd imagine. Does he wish to die? No one goes in or out of our compound without a squad and survives Hell's Forest!" he snapped, infuriated by the guardian's audacity. Kisame would be devoured within a day by the lowly demons that hunted in packs beyond the Forest's limiters. And if not, with all its traps and illusions, Hell's Forest would surely drive the man insane.

"He will not fail. Or do you forget from where Kisame came?" Kuromaru questioned casually, shaking his black mane as if dispelling the proverbial cloud the Neighboring Houses had caused the feudal lord Fuugaku. The Houses were situated in different regions of Jiigoku Forest and manufactured more than trained Shinobi for battle. Mindless killing machines that had no fear of the Devil or Hell, they had provided the continent with fighters and war mongers for centuries. Fuugaku's own father once had a House Shinobi in his guard for a few years before the man went insane and fled into Jiigoku to be eaten alive. And though Kisame turned out to be sound enough in the head, the guard's demonic appearance was outlandish enough to make the villagers cringe in terror. Normal training did not…distort people like that. And Fuugaku's stomach turned at the thought of training that did.

"Nevertheless, caution must be exercised," Fuugaku insisted.

The nin-dog gestured for Hana to slide open the paper door and sauntered into the wooden hall, tail curled about his charge's wrist as she followed him silently. As if in afterthought, he called back, "And tell Mikoto Tsume sends her congratulations for the delivery. Health and strength to Itachi and little Sasuke-kun."

Fuugaku's chin rested on his chest as he called a servant in to clean the mess left by the two of Tsume's tutelage.

"Washed, Fuugaku-sama?" the servant asked, head ducked low reverently in the Uchiha lord's presence.

"Burn them. They smell of death."

iii

"Hana-sama! What brings you and the little ones here to the palace?"

Kuromaru's throat guttered with a warning snarl, and the serving-woman cringed, terrified.

"You are nothing but a lowly worker. Do not ask such blatant questions," he ordered. Hana flinched at the wolf's biting tone but felt safe, nonetheless, beside him. Kuromaru's heavy pelt smelled like wood and dirt and it felt as thick as wool, all comforting things to the child, hip pressed to his side as she cradled the small children against her chest. The servant led them to their quarters silently the rest of the way, much to Kuromaru's satisfaction.

"You may use all the commodities you desire," the woman simpered before hastily bowing and taking her leave. Hana entered the long-room behind Kuromaru, who huffed a musty breath on her brow.

"Stay here and be respectful to the nobles; only they have rights to your allegiance. If anyone gets as nosy as that yellow-bitch servant, you tell them to mind their own business."

"Yes, Ku-chan."

The wolf winced at the nickname and wrinkled his muzzle.

"And if you please, Hana, I am Kuromaru when in the palace."

She nodded, brown locks of soiled hair falling over her bright eyes before Kuromaru snorted them away.

"Clean yourself up and keep the children presentable here. Once the danger is gone, I'll take you and the Sankyodai for a romp in the lake where you can all get as dirty as you like."

Hana meandered towards the bed roll and accommodated her siblings, groaning at the thought of daily bathing. She also missed her lupine denmates, three of the puppies from a prized litter Kuromaru had sired himself. It had been over a month since she'd trained with them because of her father's funeral and the mourning ritual that followed for seven weeks after his death. Kuromaru gave the room a once over before saying his goodbyes to the children.

"Goodbye, Ku-chan," Hana whispered as he disappeared down the dark hall before taking his leave to the outside corridor of the palace.

iii

It was raining in Hell today.

His eyes scanned the Village's smoky horizon, a lengthy stretch of trees and housing mottled ambiguously into gray that seemed to waver in the downpour. It was a quiet, languid morning. Only the rain was in motion, everything else seemingly suspended in time and not willing to disturb the calm.

It didn't really look like the aftermath of a massacre.

Leaning heavily against the palace's lookout tower, Kisame glanced at the gaunt-faced Uchiha that stared just as vacantly at the sleeping town.

"Their sacrifice saved us all."

Fuugaku swallowed thickly and nodded a few times as he gripped at the tower's surrounding iron rung. Deep-set lines creased the man's face like old leather as if he'd aged a few years overnight.

"And the boy?"

"It was Kushina's wish that he be brought up in the Guard."

A pause. Fuugaku relinquished his grip on the railing and rubbed at his eyes. "Mikoto was entertaining fantasies of raising him herself in gratitude for their service. He and Sasuke are only two or three months apart, after all." He shrugged evasively. "She'll be disillusioned, but it can't be helped."

Kisame said nothing to this, knowing full well that Fuugaku would never have allowed such an arrangement, let alone taking in a demon host as a surrogate son. But it was part of a lord's business to appear gracious on occasion.

"The burial will have to wait, along with the ceremony for Tsume's ascension to Captaincy. The oni are restless and might launch an attack if we don't attempt a show of force immediately. I…could not salvage Minato's body."

Fuugaku gave a low whistle and nodded once before turning a questioning gaze on the monster man half hidden by the Tower's long shadow. "I would've thought you'd be the one to take Minato's place. You are, after all, the strongest now. And you know the enemy better than any of them can hope to. I'd say you have a right to the placement as head of the Guard, Kisame-san."

"You stick to your clan's affairs and Tsume will tend to the Guard's," Kisame murmured in soft warning. Eyes uncharacteristically alight with feral disdain, he stared unflinching into Fuugaku's scarlet gaze and continued, just as quietly. "I don't want the position."

The Uchiha glanced away, red eyes whirring into black once more. Kisame was never one to snarl or snap his jaws, no matter what his appearance, but it was impossible to meet his gaze levelly for too long. Two years wandering in Jiigoku's forest and living among the demons had tinged the man's expression with murder.

"You're right about that, at least. I won't insist further on the matter. Though, I would that you keep news of the boy's…'affliction' to yourself. The villagers won't see him as a hero-they'll persecute him. After Minato and Kushina's death, they'll be looking for anyone to blame."

Fuugaku hesitated. "The sealing does not seem to have altered him."

Kisame shook his head. "Scars is all. Asides that, it's obvious he is his father's son. As for the Kitsune, the seal Kushina had me use was a curious choice. Shiki Fuujin, a technique of Minato's own design. I'd only ever heard of the concept. It allows an osmosis of sorts between the demon's chakra and the child's. For now, it's stable enough to hold for years. But if he develops enough chakra as he grows…We can only speculate as to how the Fox will manifest himself."

Kisame rolled his shoulders, shifting Samehada's massive weight against his back. The carved hilt adjusted its scales with a hiss and Fuugaku shifted his weight away from the thing.

"I trust the children will be safe here."

The lord nodded once, curtly.

"They're to be respected as members of the clan, I assure you."

"Good. And have Itachi keep a sharp eye on Hana. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to join the chase."

With that, the tall shinobi disappeared over the railing, leaving Fuugaku to grimly reflect on the vengeful bloodbath about to end the morning's semblance of peace.

The Shinobi Guard were going head-hunting.

* * *

><p>Very strong AU.<p>

The protagonists will be Kisame and Naruto, with Inuzuka Kiba, Inuzuka Hana, Uchiha Itachi, Inuzuka Tsume, and Momochi Zabuza as close seconds. Expect many other appearances, as this story will have no OCs. This will span characters across the series and can probably be a few chapters long.

Reviews are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading!


End file.
